Using a nail, old pen, or stylus, carve the symbol of Mercury on a blue, white, or silver candle.
Carve one word that describes a goal.
If the candle is for you, add your initials.
Invoke the Power of Mercury to bring you clarity to help you reach your goal.

“I invoke the Power of Mercury to….”
Be sure to say it three times.
(Complete instructions in body of blog)

This Week’s Theme: Focus

Pick a positive thought. Hold on to it. Retain it as long as you can. Each day your retention period will lengthen. You only need to practice!
Practice retaining one positive thought three times a day.

Hail and Welcome! You are VERY close to being half way through the program! With the holidays looming, your time may be limited. That’s okay. Do what you can. The rest will fall into place. The fact that you are trying coupled with your experiences on the journey is all that matters.

Today we are going to do a very simple technique — we are going to practice with invoking planetary powers. Modern humans have been on the planet for about two hundred thousand years. During our evolution we have created religion, politics, and society in an effort to meet the physical and emotional needs of the people. We built “sciences” to study and attempt to determine what works, how it works, and why it works — all to (supposedly) enhance the lives of the people.

Sometimes we over complicate stuff in our valiant effort to get things right.

In magick and astrology, each planet stands for a specific “type” of energy. This energy can be accessed at any time. It isn’t only for the special. It isn’t only for the initiated. It is just energy. An energy that has its own unique pattern. That pattern is like a brand of car or flavor of ice cream. Energy is energy. Then you go from there! Planetary energy has individual names in an attempt to explain a specific kind of force that is always available in the universe — you just have to access it when you need it — and call the right pattern to match your intent.

Accessing this power is easy. You just sit quietly, think about it, and then call on it. It is part of the field. The field is everything. And you are ALLOWED to use it.

These are the classical energies — and these are the planets on which you will find the most data and research in regard to magick and astrology. The outer planets (newer to the scene):

Neptune — CreativityUranus — ExplosionPluto — Change

Each planet has a compendium of correspondences and energy flavors within it — we are just using the base for today’s challenge. I like using planetary energy because, honestly, unless you put it there, there isn’t any religious dogma associated with it. Its clean, straightforward, the heart of the power you are calling. If you are into astrology, you may choose different keywords than I have here — that’s fine.

Your Challenge Today — As Within

What goes on inside of us … our thoughts, our feelings, our memories and how we utilize them…reflects on the outside of us. This internal mix of energies affects the world around us in ways we often don’t realize. In this program, we’ve been busy changing the outside of things — our environment; and working on focusing and holding our thoughts in a specific direction. Today, we are going to make a concerted effort to change (for the better) something inside of us.

First, answer these questions: What do you really want in life? What, inside of yourself, must you enhance or change to obtain that goal?

Next, look at the list, and choose the planet that most matches what you are trying to obtain? For example, to you need the Sun’s success energy (the will to succeed)? Do you need the Moon’s emotional flow of healing energy? Perhaps you would like to attract joy (Venus). Think more creatively (Neptune). Move forward because you’ve been procrastinating? (Mars). Do you wish to stop a bad habit (Saturn) or need clarity of thought (Mercury)?

Once you have picked your planet, draw its sigil on a piece of paper. Here’s a quick link so you can see what they all look like: Planets

Sit quietly and begin rubbing your hand over the sigil. State clearly your goal. Make sure you have the wording right. The wording must be the same every time you use it. When you are ready, close your eyes and invoke the planetary energy three times: “I invoke the Power of Mercury to….” or “I invoke the Power of Venus to…” and then let your mind reach out into the universe and lock into that energy that you have just called and attach it to your desire. It is like taking a hose, attaching it to one thing, then running the hose and attaching it to another thing. Expect you are doing it with thought, which is light, which is the connection of all things. You are rubbing the paper the entire time you are doing this exercise. You could also think of it like a chess game. You are moving energy to a specific square on the chess board to accomplish a move.

Hold that connection as long as you can while continuing to rub the sigil on the paper. When you lose the thought, it is done. Stop rubbing the paper. Finish with, “I know you will do this for me.”

Put the paper with the sigil on it in your pocket.

Next, go through your living environment and using your intuition, choose one thing that is blocking your goal. Cleanse it with holy water and sage, and then — remove it or move it. This object is a psychic symbol (for whatever reason). Do something about it. Sometimes, a simple shift of an object in our environment can make all the difference!

If you are very industrious — write a complete spell, meditation or ritual using a planetary power to further enhance your life. For example, I took a stick I found on my Spirit Walk the other night and decided to design something out of it to access planetary powers — an object to act as a go-between to “capture” the named power and then send it to where I wanted it to go. I called it an Ama Doll — accessing the strength and wisdom of grandmother energy to gather (or hook into) the planetary energy and then carry that energy to the intended person or target. Um… sort of like a Crone in Black. I didn’t need to make the doll to access the planetary energy. You can do that without any tools. I simply wanted something to hold in my hands that I could focus on. The Ama Doll isn’t quite finished — I need to add the embellishments. Here are two of the pics to show you what I was doing.

Construction of the Ama Doll — clay, a stick from the woods, and herbs — mistletoe and rue.

Here is what the doll looked like before it went into the oven.

Summary — Here is today’s list!

1. Perform Your Morning Braucherei Ritual (1 star)2. Throw at least ONE thing away. (2 stars)3. Give at least one thing away. (1 star)
4 Make a concerted effort to hold onto one positive thought as long as you can three times today. (1 star)
5. Do today’s main challenge — As Within — Utilizing Planetary Powers (5)
6. Do one 3-Minute Dash! (3 stars)
7. Empower and burn your Mercury candle. (1 star)
8. Think of another way that you could use planetary powers in your life. (2 stars)
9. Post how the program is going for you in the comment section (5 stars)
10. Don’t forget to do your Evening Walk Through right before you go to bed! (1 star)

Light a white, light blue, or silver candle surrounded with thyme — this herb corresponds to healing, courage, and psychism — you choose the theme of the candle today
This Week’s Theme: Focus

Pick a positive thought. Hold on to it. Retain it as long as you can. Each day your retention period will lengthen. You only need to practice!
Practice retaining one positive thought three times a day.

Today’s Challenge — For those of you who are involved in my Braucherei Program, today’s challenge will be very familiar. It is easy, fun, and can be deeply rewarding. Today, you are going to take a Spirit Walk. Before you leave the house, you ask Spirit to fill you with joy and harmony, and help you “walk off” something negative. Thank the universe in advance for the special object you will find on your way. This object is a symbol of peace, love, courage, healing, etc. Then, take a relaxing walk. Let go of fear, worry, unhappiness and pain. Accept the joy of the universe and the love that is all around you. You can bring the object back that you find, take a picture of it and leave it there, or journal about it. Leave the object, photo, or journal experience on your altar for at least 24 hours. Then, give it back to nature or employ it in magick in some way. What if you physically can’t walk? Do a self-guided meditation and ask Spirit to bring something into your environment that speaks to you of peace, love, and joy. Be patient. It WILL happen.

That’s it. That’s today’s work! If you are super industrious, you can use any extra time to catch up on tasks you have missed, or find an area of your environment that needs planning or organization energy! I’ll be working on the jumble in my craft room — ouuuu, scary place! Or, maybe the closet — more scary place!

Summary — Here is today’s list!

1. Perform Your Morning Braucherei Ritual (1 star)2. Throw at least ONE thing away. (2 stars)3. Give at least one thing away. (1 star)
4 Make a concerted effort to hold onto one positive thought as long as you can three times today. (1 star)
5. Do today’s main challenge — The Spirit Walk (2 stars).
6. Do three 3-Minute Dash! (3 stars)
7. Empower and burn your candle choosing the focus. (1 star)
8. Post how the program is going for you in the comment section (5 stars)
9. Don’t forget to do your Evening Walk Through right before you go to bed! (1 star)

Total Number of Stars You Can Earn Today: A whopping 17!
Head’s Up — Tomorrow is one major appliance — the stove or the refrigerator